Overused excuses become habits
by XxabridgedgirlyxX
Summary: Noticing his sister's and Gin's strange behaviour, Shinpachi decides to investigate. Sequel to my first one-shot. GinxTae


**I decided to write a sequel to my first one-shot 'Never question a woman's cooking skill'. I suggest you read that first. So big thanks and hugs to the reviewers of my first story; Iwonn, Sweet Scrifice, Ayjah and J4ckP0T and I hope you'll enjoy this one-shot as well! ^^**

"talk"

'_thoughts'_

**Rating: T for Kondo being there**

**Pairing: GinxTae (it is kinda obvious by now!)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama in any, form, shape or size. But I did wish I owned a Sadaharu.**

* * *

If you use secret codes too much, they won't be secret any more

The phone rang. The oldest of the Yorozuya's looked up from his Jump and looked at the phone, then back at the other occupant of his office, seemingly asleep. The four-eyes was nowhere in sight. He silently put down the magazine and walked over to the phone. After casting one last glance at the sleeping Kagura on the couch, he carefully picked up the phone.

"Hello?" He asked almost in a whisper. He leaned against his old desk and played a bit with the wire of the old telephone.

A female reply came from the phone

"No she's asleep, I don't know where Shinpachi is." He answered. Another reply came, this time longer than before. A smile formed on the albino's face as he listened.

"I'll be right there." With that, he hung up and looked at the Yato. _'Kagura, asleep. Check.'_ He scanned the room again but he couldn't locate his apprentice. _'Shinpachi, location unavailable.'_. He wondered where he was. They currently didn't have a job, no surprise there, but he still needed to know. Gin didn't want to be caught while doing 'groceries'.

'_I'll take my chances then.'_

After scribbling down his alibi on a little paper, he carefully leaned forward to place it on the table that was situated in the middle of the room, flanked by two couches. He heaved a sigh of relief when the sleeping occupant of the couch did not stir.

He went to the door and visibly flinched as the floor made a loud creaking sound. He started to sweat but was glad to see that he hadn't woken the alien girl. The dog woke up, but he didn't pay it any attention as he continued to creep to the door. The dog's eyes following his every step.

"Wan!"

"Shhh! Don't 'wan' me!," Gin hissed at the dog, "Juts be a good doggy and stay here, okay?" He didn't wait for a reply, since the dog wouldn't give him one anyway, silently put on his boots and grabbed his wooden sword. Opening the door, he stole a last glance at the sleeping girl before slipping out the door.

* * *

"Aneu-eu?"

Shinpachi entered the dojo and called out for his sister. He looked around the run-down training room and called again. When another silence met him, he left the dark dojo for the kitchen. Hoping to not be a guinea pig for his sister's latest kitchen discovery, he carefully opened the door and peeked inside.

"Huh?" He uttered a sound of surprise when he found the kitchen empty of both his sister and her experiments. _'Where could she be?' _

He thought of all the places she might be, and drew a blank. She didn't need to work today, so normally she would be butchering some eggs by now.

The old kitchen was empty, aside from a table placed in the middle and a few chairs. A little paper was neatly placed on the table, a pretty handwriting decorating it.

'We didn't have much food left so I went to do some groceries. I'll be back around 5.' The note read. "Why so much time to just do some groceries?" He questioned out loud. It was only three in the afternoon.

He wondered if it was really his sister that wrote this, he couldn't really tell. There was a little side note that he hadn't noticed before, 'Don't let anyone in and don't give a party while I'm away!' He sweatdropped, this was certainly a note from his sister, no doubt about it. Even on paper she could be very frightening and demanding.

He opened the fridge and was met by a variety of things. He chose a small, innocent looking, salad, preferably not home made, and reached for it.

He stopped.

'_Didn't she say we didn't have anything left?'_

Having grabbed the salad, he closed the fridge and sat at the table to eat his little, not poisonous, snack. Now that he thought about it, she did go out a lot lately.

Devouring the last of it, he decided to go to the Yorozuya.

Maybe, by some freak miracle, they'd have a job today.

* * *

"Ohayoh(1)!"

Met once again by silence Shinpachi stepped further into the office. _'They really are lazy people.'_ He suspected to find both of them lazing around but only found Kagura asleep in the couch. His greeting seemed to have woken the young girl as she groggily sat up.

"A-ah, gomen(2) Kagura-chan! I didn't mean to.." But stopped as it finally hit him.

"Are(3)?" He uttered a sound to indicate his surprise, "Where's Gin-san?"

The Yato looked around the room, rubbing the last sleep out of her eyes, hair a complete mess from tossing and turning.

"Gin-chan was still here before I fell asleep." She replied, blinking a few times to regain her vision. Shinpachi sighed and went to sit in the couch opposite of her, she needed to pay more attention to things.

"Oh no!" She suddenly jumped up, causing Shinpachi to lose his balance and land with his face on the table. He wondered how a sleepy person could have so much energy.

Not paying further attention to him, she continued.

"Those Shinsengumi bastards must've come for revenge! They were complaining about having not enough appearances in these one-shots!" Shinpachi moaned in pain, indicating that he was indeed still alive.

"They brutally murdered him in cold blood while I was asleep and erased all the evidence!"

Shinpachi lifted his head off the hard surface of the table, blood flowing out of his nose. "Kagura-chan, I don't really think…" He started to protest but stopped when he saw she wasn't listening anyway.

"Come, Sadaharu!" She called for her loyal monster dog, "We're going to avenge Gin-chan's death!" She send the door airborne and ran at high speed in the opposite direction of the Shinsengumi barracks, Sadaharu tailing behind her, door narrowly missing a harmless citizen.

Shinpachi stood up and sighed. Otose-san really was going to throw them out this time, it must've been the twentieth door they managed to vandalise in three months, he sometimes wondered why she even let them stay.

He saw Kagura-chan disappearing behind the horizon, people ducking left and right to avoid any collisions with the high-speed jogger. Luckily for the Shinsengumi, Kagura-chan didn't really have any real sense of direction, so they'd be save for another few hours. He did wonder what really happened to Gin-san, Kagura-chan's theory didn't seem to likely. The author had already promised the Shinsengumi to write something involving them and them only.

Stopping his nose bleed, so he wouldn't be mistaking for a pervert, he looked at his landing spot. Only then noticing a little paper laying on the table.

The deciphering of the note went slowly, but he found out it was from his silver haired friend.

'Going out for groceries.' Short and hastily scribbled down, that was him alright. He sat in the couch, now without any accidents or unwanted injuries, and stared at the paper. Gin-san was going out a lot lately for groceries.

Did they even have money for groceries?

* * *

"Hatshaa!"

A silver haired man with a wooden sword, clad in a white kimono sneezed with enough force to blow up/away a Justaway. A pretty young lady with an umbrella, dressed in a bright blue kimono, brown hair pulled up, accompanied him.

"I didn't know idiots could catch colds, Gin-chan." The pretty brunette remarked, looking at her companion. The companion looked back, revealing crimson red eyes.

"Bad thing I'm not an idiot." He retorted. _'Somebody must be thinking about me.'_

Tae was a bit amused at his comeback, averting her gaze back in front of her. Every time he was near, she always found herself smiling. Something that not many people managed to achieve.

She glanced at him from the right, sun beading down on them. It was quite a hot day, considering the season. They slowly strolled around Edo, not having a specific destination.

"What excuse did you use?" Eyes not meeting hers.

"Groceries."

An amused smile appeared on his face.

"Same here, but we should be careful with our excuses," Casting his eyes back to her form, "I think your brother is suspecting something." She laughed lightly at that.

"What?" He asked with a bit of curiosity, a small smile playing on his lips. "We can't hide it forever you know." He added, "It's hard to slip out, even if Kagura-chan sleeps twenty hours a day."

She was silent for a few seconds as if preparing her answer."We don't really have to tell them directly," She said, walking a bit closer to him, "We can give out subtle hints." With that she linked her left arm with his right.

He didn't protest and they continued walking together, umbrella now shielding both from the hot afternoon sun.

* * *

Shinpachi walked around town, looking out for a silver haired man. Also looking out for his sister, considering that she too was disappearing on a regular basis. He had already checked most of the grocery stores around and had found neither of them, nor had the clerk seen a silver haired man carrying a wooden sword, or a seemingly innocent, but extremely violent, young brunette.

He wondered if he should be concerned, Gin-san could be stupid sometimes but was always able to bail himself out. He was more concerned for his sister's sake, even if she was violent and extremely dangerous, she could be in some trouble.

But neither could she catch him spying on her, he wasn't ready for his funeral just yet.

He needed a plan, but first, he needed to find her. He was still walking and suddenly caught sight of a suspicious bush, hiding behind some other bushes.

Sigh.

_'I must be really desperate…'_

* * *

"Mmm, this is really delicious isn't it" The two were still walking side by side, now each clutching a cold sweetness in their hands. "I love Bargain Dash(4)!" She smiled as she took another bit with her spoon, looking at the man now walking on her left.

The man continued to lick his ice cream as he agreed with her. His strawberry ice cream tasted delicious and he wondered, since ice cream was made of milk, if his was made of strawberry milk. He paid it no further notice as the two continued walking on a slow pace.

It was already four hours in the afternoon, but the sun was still mercilessly burning. The now melting ice cream was more than welcome.

They walked close and his face was almost touching her hair. He had the urge to run his fingers through it, but decided against it. They were supposed to give subtle hints, not throw it like a brick in their faces.

"Your hair smells nice." he told her almost in a whisper, causing her to blush a bit.

Regaining her composure, she repaid him by quickly licked a bit of his ice cream.

"Hey that was mine." He teased, faking hurt. "You know you'll have to pay for that." He told her with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I really wouldn't mind at all." She added, devouring the last bit of ice cream before throwing the cup away. Gin also finished his as she claimed his other arm, sending a little heat up the samurai's face.

* * *

'_I feel like a stalker.' _

Shinpachi thought as he hided behind the bush he shared with a gorilla.

"Why exactly are you here, Shimura?" Said gorilla asked, never taking his gaze of off the walking duo.

Sigh.

"Just seeing what my sister is up to." He answered the Shinsengumi commander.

"Doesn't that make you a stalker?" Kondo remarked, finally looking at him. Shinpachi sighed and decided to let it go, not wanting to give away his, obvious very suspicious, hiding place.

"It really does make you a stalker." A new voice added, coming from a female ninja that was now crouching beside Kondo, also spying around for her target, sensible enough to keep her glasses on.

It took him all his self control not to burst out in anger. He sweatdropped. What was she doing here anyway?

"Ne, Sa-chan," He asked her, not even gaining a look from the kunoichi(5),"Why are you here?"

"I must go everywhere my dear Gin-san goes!" She almost squealed, suddenly revealing a rope coming out of nowhere.

Masochist Mode On.

How she did that, he didn't even want to know. Shinpachi just sighed as he saw her now tied up, hanging from a tree behind them. Attracting, surprisingly, no attention at all.

That's a ninja for you.

"Look they're moving!" Kondo suddenly said indicating that the targets were changing course.

'_Wait, they?'_ Shinpachi looked for the first time over the bush and saw Gin-san and his sister walking side by side, both an ice cream in their hand. _'So that's where he was!' _

He frowned as he wondered what happened to the groceries.

'_But why is he with Aneu-eu?' _

Together with Kondo, part of the bush walked away to follow them on a safe distance. Shinpachi quickly followed the bush/Kondo as the masochist was still safely hanging from a tree like a piñata, still no one seemed to notice.

After ducking behind a bush that wasn't Kondo, they were just in time to see Gin-san smell her hair, forcing Shinpachi to use all his might to restrain Kondo, saying that there was probably a good reason why he did that. After they saw Tae licking the strawberry ice cream, the gorilla almost went bananas.

Kondo turned his back at the bush and interrogated the other in a hushed voice. "What is your boss doing with Otae-san?" The other shook his head in denial and replied. "I don't know, and what's with this horrible disguise! You're even more supicous!" He added as an afterthought.

They were lucky that there were a lot of random bushes in Edo to hide behind.

Kondo shrugged it off and continued to be a bush when he heard his phone.

The two panicked and quickly shut off the phone, hoping nobody had heard Kondo's ringtone. The gorilla picked up and Shinpachi looked curious as the voice on the other side began to talk.

"Emergency?" Kondo silently repeated the caller, "A Chinese girl in red going on a rampage in the barracks?" Kondo's face grew even more serious as he continued to listen to the hysteric Yamazaki, in the background a bored 'Look out, Hijikata-san' from Sougo could be heard and a colourful answer from the former together with some explosions.

Shinpachi sweatdropped, looks like Kagura-chan found it a little earlier than he had anticipated.

He wondered if he should have warned them earlier for her wrath.

"It's an emergency! Make way!" The bush/Kondo yelled as he jumped out and ran towards the barracks, gaining weird glances from passer by's.

'_Why do I never meet normal people?' _

* * *

"Did you hear something?" Gin asked his companion who was currently occupying his left arm. A bush of brown hair moved away to show her face, now looking up at him.

"No. Did you?"

"Just my imagination I guess." They continued to walk slowly. Gin heard something rustle and was now certain. He looked over his right shoulder just to see a bush with legs make it's way in their opposite direction. He was sure he didn't have any sake today, so he labelled the phenomenon as Kondo.

He failed to notice the other small blur following them, as he turned his head to gaze at his companion. He really liked these small dates with her, just strolling around Edo.

"It's almost five o' clock." She said, effectively gaining his attention, "I should return home, otherwise Shin-chan will be worried."

He smiled even if he knew they were going to part, she really loved her brother.

"Yeah, I guess it's about time I should head back too. Kagura-chan will be awake by now." Tae was silent for some time as she looked at the sun that was slowly descending.

"I'll walk you home," She looked up from her thoughts at the comment, "It's only normal that a gentleman should accompany his date safely back home."

"Since when have you been a gentleman?" She asked flatly.

"You have a point..." She smiled as they headed for the dojo, resting her head on his shoulder.

* * *

"Looks like we arrived on time," Tae remarked as she saw her house come into view, " I really liked this afternoon." She said in a small voice.

The silverhead hummed in agreement, recollecting the events of that afternoon.

They reached the gate that gave entrance to the garden in front. Next to it hung a small plate, confirming that this was indeed the Shimura dojo, currently not accepting any new students.

"Kondo isn't following us anymore," Gin said indicating the lack of suspicious bushes, trees or New York walls.

"That means I can do this."

He leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss, this one lasting longer than the first, now surprising her. She found that he still tasted like strawberry ice cream and decided to buy him some when she went out for groceries again.

"That was payback." He added. Once she had recovered, she spoke up.

"Well, consider this a 'good night' kiss." With that she pulled him down and kissed him gently. He didn't resist and enjoyed the feeling for as long as it lasted.

They pulled back as they heard a suspicious sound coming from behind a tree. Gin went over to find an unconscious Shinpachi at the base of said tree, the other also coming over and surprised to find none other than her brother there.

"Guess your subtle hint worked, huh?"

* * *

That night Shinpachi dreamed of weddings, brothers-in-law and baby's.

He did not greet the occupants of the Yorozuya with the normal cheery tone the next morning, as he was just too engrossed in his thinking.

'_Was it just all a dream, or did it really happen?'_ He questioned himself. He hadn't told his sister, he was sure he would not survive. He had asked Gin-san but he had laughed it off and labelled it as his weird imagination.

He decided to drop it, his sister and Gin-san together, that just wasn't possible.

He went over to the kitchen and opened the fridge to look for something edible, since his sister's experiments sacrificed his breakfast that morning.

Blink.

In the fridge stood a large box of strawberry ice cream, still unopened.

Blink.

Images of weddings and brothers-in-law flashed through his head once again.

He fainted.

* * *

**Author's notes:**

**Ah poor Shinpachi!! He still has no idea! When will he finally find out? Well, this one-shot wasn't completely centred around Gin and Tae but I hope you liked it anyway!**

**1)Good morning in Japanese**

**2)Sorry in Japanese**

**3)Like 'huh'? just in Japanese**

**4)The ice cream brand that Tae likes in the anime (name in the manga is bit different)**

**5)Looked it up, official name for a female ninja.**

**I hope you liked it and please review!^^**


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